Franklin Díaz Mirás 

Professor Cynthia Pittmann 

INGL 3104-134

7 May 2018

Comparison between “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers”

          The play “Trifles” and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”, both written by the same author, are very similar in their content. Basically, they both present the same problem and situation but told in a different way. One is written in narrative form and the other one as a play. Another notable difference is, obviously, the title; “Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” let knows the readers the two different focuses between the play and the story. The title “Trifles” seems to tell us that the play is going to focus on some objects that would show the meaning of the story while the title “A Jury of Her Peers” let us know that the story will center around the characters, especially Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the ones that helped and understood the life of Mrs. Wright. 

          These similarities and differences allow us to understand the contrast between the two styles of writing and expression. When reading the play, you follow the story through the characters words and have other details that a narrator can miss in a short story but likewise in a play you can miss other details like the background story of the characters, events, and details of situations.

          First, the script is more precise than the narrative in some aspects because in the script you can see or imagine exactly and how the characters are moving through the 

area. Meanwhile, in the narrative it doesn’t gives much attention to it, you have to imagine it yourself. Also, in the script, most of the time you can’t know what the characters think but in the narrative form, if its in third person pint of view, the author tells what the characters aré thinking. This means that you receive a clearer information of the thoughts of the characters on the narrative than in the script. Also, in the script you can’t get confused on where the events are going on because every time there’s a change of setting, its more marked with huge description of new settings than it is in the narrative form, where sometimes the setting its not specified. 

          The setting of the story is well described in the play at the beginning of the scene. The description of the house, given at the beginning, also sets partly the mood of the situation. Referring to the house as “gloomy” and a kitchen “left not being put in order” can also foreshadow of what one might expect of the play, contrary to the short story, these details are not given so directly but they are given in the development of the story. Marking a primary difference between the styles because in the play you have many details at the beginning of the work that in the short story you get through the development of it. 

          Both styles have key concepts that help better understand their stories. The play sets the scene from the beginning which can motivate a reader to continue reading because of the elements it can foreshadow and the mood it can set. In contrast to the short story were you can identify the mood and other elements in the development of it. Like in this case were Trifles establishes the setting, the mood and other details at the beginning of the play while in A Jury of Her Peers, these elements are set through the story. The “walkthrough” structure of short stories, is great to better understand the stories elements because of the concepts used in its writing. The “raw” form of a play can afar readers from it because since its nature is a script and dialogue, it can be harder to read because of the switch between characters while reading. Different from the short story which is made in a paragraph form, making the process of reading more likeable.

            In conclusion, stories can be written in different forms and still have a similar effect on the reader. For the question “Which is more effective?” I would have to say it depends on the reader and what type of reading the person likes the most, either a play or a narrative. I think the most effective way to express or tell a story is via narrative, everything its more detailed.

Work Cited

Pittmann,Cynthia. Class Assignment “Comparison between a script and a story: “Trifles” 

          and “A Jury of Her Peers”. Intermediate English. UPRRP. 7 May 2018.

Glaspell, Susan. Trifles, 1916.

Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers, 1917.